This traditional recipe for Crock-Pot Beef Scotch Broth is a tasty rich meaty beef soup filled with beef stew meat, carrots, potatoes and pearl barley. This frugal recipe is simple yet tasty and a common dish found in Scotland that has been adapted to the slow cooker!
Crock-Pot Beef Scotch Broth
This recipe is submitted to us by Julie Parrish. Julie says “I used to like this as a Campbell’s canned soup when I was a kid. Of course, once you’re older and you learn how to cook, everything taste better from fresh.”
To be honest I had never heard of Beef Scotch Broth before Julie sent me this recipe. Either homemade or a canned version. But once I saw the recipe she sent me and I tried it out myself I was in LOVE!
Scotch broth is a traditional Scottish soup made with either lamb, mutton or beef, barley, and root vegetables such as potatoes and carrots.
This recipe uses beef because it is more widely available in the U.S. than lamb or mutton is. But feel free to use either of those meats if you have access to them.
I have now made this soup a few times with beef, lamb and even venison because here in Wyoming those are pretty common meats. Our family buys a lamb each year from friends who’s kids raise them for 4H projects. And while we are not a hunting family we have friends who often gift us with cuts of venison from time to time.
I hope you give this delicious recipe a try! It is a great hearty and filling soup that is perfect for any chilly Autumn or Winter day!
Jump To Full Recipe Box
Ingredients Needed:
- Beef Stew Meat – You can also use lamb, mutton or venison. Stew meat usually comes in about 1 inch chunks, you will want to dice each chunk into about 4 pieces so that the chunks are smaller. If you cannot find or want to use pre-cut beef stew meat you can cut up a roast yourself. I usually use a chuck roast.
- Garlic – I prefer to peel and mince my own garlic. However if you are pressed for time the pre-minced garlic found in most grocery stores will work. Just use 1 teaspoon per clove of garlic.
- Potatoes – Peeled and diced rather small.
- Carrots – Peeled and diced.
- Yellow Onion – Peeled and diced. (see note in the recipe box below about onion)
- Pearl Barley – This lovey grain will cook right in the soup and adds some great texture to the soup.
- Beef Broth – I used canned beef broth (low-sodium) but you can use homemade too.
- White Pepper – White pepper adds the flavor of pepper without seeing the flecks of pepper in your soup. A great trick if you have kids who wont eat something with pepper flecks in it (too spicy!). But you can use black pepper in this soup too if you don’t have white pepper on hand.
- Ground Allspice – This may sound like a crazy ingredient to add to a soup but trust me, it adds some great flavor and compliments the beef and vegetables really well.
- Dried Parsley Flakes – Dried parsley is mostly there for a little color but it also adds a tiny bit of flavor. Feel free to omit if you don’t have any on hand.
- Celery Seed
- Water
Directions:
- Turn turn a 5 to 6 quart slow cooker on HIGH, and add a 1/2 inch of boiling water in the crock.
- Dice the potatoes into fine cubes and put in the boiling water first. The boiling water will pre-heat the crock, and it will speed up the potatoes cooking by about an hour.
- Add the carrots, onion, and pearl barley to the crock and stir.
- Add in the beef broth and dry spices.
- In a large skillet, sauté the beef and the minced garlic together. When the beef is cooked, add it to the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.
Products Needed:
- 5 Quart, 5.5 Quart Or 6 Quart Slow Cooker
- Knife
- Cutting Board
- Electric Kettle (Or You Can Just Boil Water In A Pot On The Stove)
- Can Opener
- Liquid Measuring Cup
- Dry Measuring Cups And Measuring Spoons
- Large Skillet
- Wooden Spoon
More Amazing Soups To Make In Your Slow Cooker!
- Crock-Pot Mexican Beef & Veggie Soup
- Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup
- Crock-Pot Sausage Cheese Tortellini Soup
- Slow Cooker Italian Wedding Soup + Video
- Crock-Pot Cheese, Beer & Bratwurst Soup + Video
Rating |
|
Servings | 6People |
Prep Time | 15Minutes |
Cook Time | 6 - 8Hours On LOW |
- 1 Pound Beef Stew Meat Diced Very Small (Can Also Use Lamb, Mutton Or Venison)
- 2 Cloves Garlic Peeled And Minced
- 2 Large Potatoes Peeled And Diced
- 4 Medium Carrots Peeled And Diced
- 1/2 Medium Yellow Onion Peeled And Diced
- 1 Cup Pearl Barley
- 70 Ounces Beef Broth
- 3/4 Teaspoon White Pepper
- 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Allspice
- 2 Teaspoons Dried Parsley Flakes
- 1/2 Teaspoon Celery Seed
- Water
Ingredients
Servings: People
|
|
- Turn turn a 5 to 6 quart slow cooker on HIGH, and add a 1/2 inch of boiling water in the crock.
- Dice the potatoes into fine cubes and put in the boiling water first. The boiling water will pre-heat the crock, and it will speed up the potatoes cooking by about an hour.
- Add the carrots, onion, and pearl barley to the crock and stir.
- Add in the beef broth and dry spices.
- In a large skillet, sauté the beef and the minced garlic together. When the beef is cooked, add it to the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.
You can cut the onions either finely, or leave them in bigger chucks. I don’t prefer to eat the onions although I enjoy the flavor, so I leave mine chunked so I can easily pick them out.
Recipe Collections:
Soup Crock-Pot Recipes | Scottish Slow Cooker Recipes |
5 Quart Slow Cooker Recipes | 6 Quart Crock-Pot Recipes |
Frugal Crock-Pot Recipes | Comfort Food Slow Cooker Recipes |


Leave a Reply